Southern California -- this just in

California earthquake: Temblor caused some damage near epicenter

October 21, 2011 | 6:28
am

Two earthquakes that hit the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday both occurred along the Hayward fault, with the second temblor producing scattered reports of minor damage.

KRON-TV and KPIX-TV reported that the second temblor caused items to fall from shelves in some homes near the Berkeley epicenter. Some plaster fell from the ceiling of a business in Oakland, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The quake also left some artwork askew at an Oakland library.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported that a magnitude 4.2 quake had hit near Berkeley about 8:15 p.m., but that was quickly downgraded to 3.9.

The second quake, which was one mile east of Berkeley and five miles north-northwest of Oakland, prompted a flurry of Twitter earthquake messages.

The first earthquake hit at 2:41 p.m. in the same area. The Geological Survey said it was a magnitude-4.0 quake. There were reports of shaking, but no reports of damage.

The two quakes occurred on the day that millions of people participated in The Great California Shakeout earthquake preparedness drills.